Preparing nurses for global health care

Abstract

In 2009, the World Health Organization published a document proposing global standards for the initial education of professional nurses and midwives, and noted that although nearly 35 million nurses and midwives make up the largest cadre of health care workers globally, they are rarely involved in high level decision-making and policy development (1) . The development of the standards addressed one of the goals of the WHA59.23 resolution adopted in 2006 (2) , to develop global nursing education standards as a strategy for strengthening nursing and midwifery in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for health (1,3) . The standards specify that graduates of initial nursing and midwifery educational programs should be culturally competent, have an understanding of the social determinants of health, and have the ability to practice and meet population health needs in the health care systems of their respective countries (1) .The standards do not explicitly address the need to prepare nurses who have competencies in global health.In this era of increased geographic mobility, the emergence of emerging infections that cross national borders, technological and communication advances, and the growing interdependence of the world, there is a need to move beyond a focus on local and national health care problems to ensure that all nurses are prepared to address local, national, and global health needs (4)(5)(6)(7) .Global health has been defined as "…an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. Global health emphasizes transnational health issues, determinants, and solutions; involves many disciplines within and beyond the health sciences and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration; and is a synthesis of population based prevention with individual-level clinical care" (8) . Although there have been numerous efforts to define cultural competencies to be integrated into nursing curricula (9)(10)(11) , efforts to identify and define global health competencies are just beginning. It is important for nursing educators to develop innovative curricula to prepare nurses for roles in a global society (12) . Specific global health concepts to be integrated into basic nursing educational programs include: global citizenship, social justice, health equity, global health nursing issues, determinants of health, epidemics, communicable and non-communicable diseases, epidemiology and health outcomes, and humanitarian emergencies (13) . Faculty

Cultural experiences of immigrant nurses at two hospitals in Chile

“…These three areas are distinct possibilities to consider both professional-user and professional-professional interactions ( 20 ) . Great effort is needed to identify and define the global health competences, as these are just beginning ( 21 ) .…”

The Evolution of World Health Organization's Initiatives for the Strengthening of Nursing and Midwifery

“…In this scenario, several difficulties were faced by nurses and midwives around the globe, such as the increasing professional migration to other locations or countries (Sheer & Wong, ), which also entailed a shortage in rural and remote areas (Wilson, ; WHA, ). The loss of nurses and midwives derives from low wages, lack of career incentives, aging of the active population, bad work conditions, difficulties in the implementation and strengthening of existing policies, lack of high‐quality local educational programs (Uys, Chipps, Kohi, Makoka, & Libetwa, ), and impact of the economic crisis in many countries (Buchan, O'May, & Dussault, ).…”

A Cultural Immersion Experience in Indonesia for U.S. Nursing Students

“…Several other authors have extolled the benefi ts of student exposure to the world in which we live from the perspective of health inequities and personal experiential contact, along with suggestions related to the facilitation of global encounters (Breitkreuz, 2010;Memmott et al, 2010;Mill, Astle, Ogilvie, & Gastaldo, 2010;Rana, 2014;Wilson, 2011). Examples of other cultural immersion experiences with nursing students highlighted the advantages gained from collaboration with international partners in a service-oriented health activity (Larson, Ott, & Miles, 2010;Smit & Tremethick, 2013;Wros & Archer, 2010).…”